1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to biometric imaging systems. More particularly, the present invention is related to a live scan optical system.
2. Background Art
Biometrics are a group of technologies that provide a high level of security. Print capture and recognition is an important biometric technology. Law enforcement, banking, voting, commerce, retail, and other industries increasingly rely upon fingerprints as a biometric to recognize or verify identity. See, Biometrics Explained, v. 2.0, G. Roethenbaugh, International Computer Society Assn. Carlisle, Pa. 1998, pages 1–34 (incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). Generally, a biometric is a measurable, physical characteristic or personal behavior trait used to recognize the identity, or verify the claimed identity, of a person who has a biometric reference template (e.g., data that represents a biometric measurement) on file.
Live scanners are used to capture measurable characteristics of a human being, such as fingerprints, palm prints, footprints, etc. Such live scanners include CCD or CMOS cameras and illumination sources for capturing the biometric image. Configurations of the illumination source and camera for a live scanner are typically set by the manufacturer at the factory. Thus, the ability to adaptively adjust gain, integration time, and contrast for the camera, as well as control the illumination for the illumination source does not exist.
To obtain a high quality biometric image, what is therefore needed is a live scan system that adaptively controls the camera and the illumination.